French “stealth” frigate slips into Palma

By Humphrey Carter ONE of the most sophisticated warships afloat, the French frigate MN Aconit sailed in to Palma for a brief visit yesterday. The Aconit is one of five La Fayatte Class or “stealth” frigates in service with the French navy with a sixth apparently being built. The La Fayette Class frigates are light multi-mission warships which are said to be undetectable by radar - which is why they are known as “stealth” ships. The frigates have a much cleaner superstructure in comparison to other conventional designs with angled sides and built of Radar Absorbent Material which is a composite of wood, fibre-glass as hard as steel, light and resistant to fire. What is more, deep in the heart of the ship is its Information Processing System, the electronic brain of the frigate's operations centre. The frigates have been designed to include space for the Aster 15 missile, the state-of-the-art anti-air European weapon and currently carries the Crotale short-range defence system and Exocet missiles. The frigates can also carry and operate anti-ship and anti-submarine helicopters. France's first La Fayette Class frigate was ordered in 1988. The fifth came into service in 2002 and a sixth is said to be being built. However, the origins of the Aconit are British. The first Aconit, or rather HMS Aconite was one of nine Flower Class corvettes lent by the Royal Navy to the Forces Navales Française Libres (Free French Naval Forces) in WWII. Built in Troon, Scotland, the Aconit was attached to the FFNF in July 1941 under the command of Lieutenant Levasseur. The Aconit played an extremely active part in the Second Battle of the Atlantic for two years protecting convoys sailing from Newfoundland to the British Isles via Iceland. In 1943, the Aconit destroyed two German submarines, and captured a total of 24 prisoners, in less than five hours while escorting a 10-ship convoy. In April that same year, General Charles de Gaulle went aboard her in Greenock to award the crew and her commander the Croix de la Liberation.